Hallen für Neue Kunst

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The Hallen für Neue Kunst is a museum for contemporary art, especially New Art (since 1965). It is located in the Swiss city of Schaffhausen, right on the banks of the river Rhine. The Hallen was founded and established in 1982/83 by the artist Urs Raussmüller. Being convinced that New Art needed time and space to unfold its impact, he created a permanent situation for major, predominantly large-scale works by American and European artists that have been shown (1984). As one of the first transformations of an industrial building into an art museum, the Hallen für Neue Kunst is considered to be a model for museums all over the world.

5,500 square meters of the former textile factory have been transformed into a permanent exhibition for New Art, with Joseph Beuys' two-storied work "Das Kapital Raum 1970-1977" at its core. A large collection of architectural sculptures by Bruce Nauman is on display together with large groups of works of the pioneers of Minimal Art, Arte Povera, Land Art and Conceptual Art. Carl Andre's Cuts (1967) that was scarcely on display because of its enormous dimensions of (9.35 m x 13 m and a weight of app. 18 t) has found a place there. The Italian artist Mario Merz has installed a capacious "villaggio" (village) with igloos, vines and neon lights. Sol LeWitt has attributed numerous variations of cubes and wall drawings from the 1960s to the 1990s. Jannis Kounellis took the special situation of the building into account. Commenting on place and time, his works are closely connected with the surrounding space. The "Hallen" show a wide range of Robert Ryman's paintings as well as paintings by Robert Mangold. Being set up together with the artists, the Hallen für Neue Kunst has achieved the reputation of being an artistic manifesto and the documentation of an important step in the history of art.

The Hallen für Neue Kunst is a privately run institution. Responsible for the artworks and the cultural projects is Raussmüller Collection & Projects.